Forest Elephants (Loxodonta Cyclotis) Caught On Camera Trap In Remote Bili Forest

Some wonderful footage of wild forest elephants living in the remote Bili Forest of the Democratic Republic of the Congo recently came to my attention. They’re really quite interesting, I definitely recommend that you give them a watch.

These videos are coming to us via the Lukuru Foundation. The foundation’s YouTube page features similar footage from camera traps in the area, showing all manners of creatures — including golden cats, giant forest boars, monkeys, aardvarks, etc. Worth a look if you have time. It’s a bit addictive watching the videos though — so there’s a warning. 🙂


I must say, there’s really something quite peaceful and relaxing about these videos.

While it’s true that life in the wild is not “easy”, and certainly is often what we would now refer to as being “violent”, you can’t really help but get the feeling when out away from human settlements (or watching animals in the wild, like these forest elephants) that something has been lost in the modern world/culture.

On the subject of things being lost… Forest elephants such as these have seen their numbers take an absolute dive off a cliff over the last few decades (see: Critically Endangered Forest Elephant Populations Decimated During The Last Decade, Approaching Extinction), largely due to the explosive growth of poaching, bushmeat hunting/industry, and expanding human settlements. Their future is looking very murky — they could very well be completely gone from the world within the near-future.

Most of the animals living in the relatively remote Bili Forest where these camera traps were set-up face this reality — including, amongst others, a band (and subspecies) of very large lion-eating chimps (chimpanzees).

At Night

Grabbing a Drink

Remains of Poached Mother and Young

Bull Walking Off

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